Chapter 6

Ava

This was the dumbest idea I’d had in a while, and I’d had some idiotic thoughts over the past few months. Starting with my stupid crush on Calder and ending with my kidnapping at the motel earlier today. I wasn’t sure where on the scale of stupid plans this one landed, but I couldn’t seem to stop my feet from moving.

The silky, beautiful orange and red feather clutched tightly in my fist as I left the kitchen through the same door that Lucius had. The hallway was dimly lit, but the soft sconce that glowed in the distance provided just enough light. More feathers, three of them in a trail leading from the door down the hallway, and around the corner.

In my mind, I kept flashing to the last moments before I’d passed out in the woods. The light, the fire, and what I was starting to think was a huge bird winging toward me. I had to be going crazy to even consider what I was thinking right now. And yet… After the things I’d already seen? Why not?

I picked up each feather as I padded down the hallway, holding them in my trembling hand like an odd bouquet. Either Lucius owned the most magnificent parrot ever, or these feathers belonged to something even more exotic. I had always loved fairy tales, but I drew a blank on what this might be. Shifters, the bear and coyote variety, those I’d had to accept, were real. But what kind of creature was my host?

A meow made me jerk out of my thoughts and spin around to search for the sound. Was that the strange black cat? I couldn’t see it. The shadows beneath the side table were too dark, and the curtains by a window cast even deeper pools of darkness. Then a pair of eyes blinked at me; bright golden eyes.

I stumbled a step back in surprise and bumped against something solid. Solid and warm, and it made an ‘oomph’ noise when I swung my elbow back in reflex and struck it again. My balance became a mess when the feline that spooked me twined itself between my legs; it didn’t help that I tried to turn to see what I’d run into.

“What…” I started to say, already envisioning a collision with the deep red carpet next. My eyesight was filled with more red, with a wall of silky feathers and flames. An arm snapped out and caught me around my middle, jerking me back to my feet at the last moment. A very undignified yelp squeaked from my throat.

I was face to face with Lucius, the very man I’d chased after so I could do… I didn’t even know what. Apologize for inconveniencing him? Pester him with more curious questions? I certainly got my wish to find out what he was: not human. If I thought his frowns had been impressive before, they were downright grim now.

“Look what you’ve done!” he said darkly, the words a rough growl. “You should have known better than to wander into the lair of a monster!” His eyes were orbs of flame, casting light against his face, glowing with heat on mine. He was a monster, a creature of myth. But all I could focus on was his naked chest against mine, and his powerful arm anchoring me to him.

The talisman on its ragged leather string still dangled from his neck, but it was sparking with little flashes of light, with embers that drifted in the air between us. They matched the rest of him, huge red and orange wings, dancing with flame, and more of those multi-hued feathers grew along his shoulders, his arms, and even covered his head instead of hair.

“A monster?” The question fell from my lips as a soft whisper, but it still sounded loud in the charged atmosphere. “No,” I said firmly. “Not a monster. I know those, and you’re not one of them.” Not one of the scary shifters like Calder, who had kidnapped me, threatened me with death, and worse. This man might not be human—definitely not human—but he was no monster.

“I don’t know what you are.” I just knew that what he looked like didn’t match anything I could think of, but it didn’t scare me; he didn’t scare me. How could he, when he’d given me shelter, healed my wounds, and fed me? If there was one thing I was certain of, it was that Lucius would not harm a hair on my head. I didn’t know where that certainty came from, but I trusted my gut.

His mouth curled in a derisive snarl, but I still noticed how luscious his bottom lip was, and I was struck with the urge to lean up and kiss him. “I am a phoenix,” he said, and he flared his wings wider, their golden flames dancing as they lit up the hallway. It was a beautiful, mesmerizing sight, and I wanted to keep looking.

Phoenix meant something to me. I recalled it as a bird of some importance from one of my favorite movie franchises. A bird of flames, a bird that could be reborn from the ashes… I brought my eyes back to his; focused on the details of his face. Such a stubborn jaw, and such magnificent golden eyes. Flames danced at their center. Yes, I was more than willing to believe he was a mythical bird. Why not? If people could turn into a bear or a coyote, why not something even more fantastical?

Although… Lucius had appeared fully human to me in the kitchen, but he was not nearly so human-looking now. He could never go out onto the street looking as he did, had he shifted completely? Or was he somewhere in between? Calder had done that once, becoming half wolf and half man. It had been a terrifying sight.

My phoenix host was anything but scary to me, I only felt an intense attraction. An attraction that seemed to grow stronger, warmer, deeper, the longer he held me in his arms. I didn’t even question why he was still pressing me tightly against his very muscular, very bare chest; it felt right.

The cat meowed, weaving its way between our legs. Its curved feline back stroked against my calves and forced me to stumble forward, even further into Lucius’ arms. “Oh…” I muttered, my hands splayed against his pecs, against the silky hot skin that covered him. “Phoenix? That sounds magical. So I didn’t dream that? The firebird that came from the sky and scared off those shifters?”